Note:
This page was designed as a reference for EdZone customers and reflects
opinions derived from our experiences. We are pleased that so many people
across the Internet are finding it helpful but would remind these people
that they should contact THEIR ISP with questions regarding modems - our
recommendations may or may not apply to your situation, your ISP, or your
modem.

Having
a good quality modem is vital to your Internet connection - it is the
most important factor in how fast you connect, your Internet performance,
and how consistent & stable your connection to EdZone is besides the
quality of your phone line. Being that many of our customers live in a
rural area, a good quality modem can be the difference in connecting and
not connecting at all. With that said, here is a summary of what modems
work well with EdZone service & particular modems that don't work
well at all.

Please
trust OUR recommendations over a salesperson at one of the chain stores
like Best Buy, Circuit City or the like - they sell modems and can only
read the features on the box - which gives them absolutely NO real world
experience in communications. We connect hundreds and hundreds of users
to the Internet every day - we know what works and what doesn't work.

Recommended

We
have had the best experiences with the following hardware (controller)
based modems and recommend the following specificially by model number
if you are purchasing a new modem or computer system:

Brand

Model
Number

Description

E-Tech

PC336RVP

"Bullet" 33.6 Internal

E-Tech

RC56RVP

"Cyber Bullet" 56K Internal

E-Tech

E56KRVP

"Cyber Bullet" 56K External

Boca

M336I

33.6 Internal "Home Fax Modem"

Boca

MV.34ED

"Bocamodem" 33.6 External

US Robotics

000840-XX

"Sportster" 33.6 Internal

US Robotics

000839-0X

"Sportster" 33.6 External

3Com / US Robotics

005687-0

"Sportster" 56K Internal

3Com / US Robotics

005686-0

"Sportster" 56K External

3Com / US Robotics

002805-0

"Courier" 56K V.Everything Internal

3Com / US Robotics

002806-0

"Courier" 56K V.Everything External

Zoom

2849

56Kx External

Zoom

2919

Dual Mode 56Kx Internal

Zoom

2949

Dual Mode 56Kx External

Hayes

08-03178

"Accura" 33.6 Internal

Hayes

08-03180

"Accura" 33.6 External

Hayes

08-03329

"Accura" 56K Internal

Hayes

08-03328

"Accura" 56K External

Diamond

SupraExpress 56I

56K Internal

Diamond

SupraExpress 56e

56K External

If
the above 20 modems aren't enough for you, rest assured that most HARDWARE
based modems work fine - if you are not sure if it is a hardware based
modem, have the salesperson call the manufaturer to verify the modem!
Most manufacturers have BOTH hardware modems and winmodems to offer -
be sure to spend the extra money and get the hardware modem!

Not
Recommended

Following
are several modems that we have found to be very poor performers - DO
NOT buy one of these modems and expect to connect reliably - to clarify
this point, some of these modems WILL connect to EdZone under optimal
conditions with little difficulty, but have many major difficulties connecting
if your line quality is poor or questionable (which can easily happen
in rural areas).

Be
sure about the modem included in computer systems that you are shopping
for - MOST manufacturers skimp out on modems (Dell, Acer, Gateway, IBM,
CTX, HP, and Compaq to name a few) and include a software based modem
(commonly called winmodems and are "controlerless modems") instead of
a good quality, hardware based modem as mentioned above. Why? Because
its an easy place to cut corners and make their price tag look better.
We've talked to technicians from all major computer manufacturers about
these modems. Most swear that these are great modems and "its your ISP's
fault if you can't connect" but have no response or explanation when we
replace the modem with any one from our recommended list and ALL of the
customer's connection problems vanish. We're not saying don't buy from
these vendors, we're saying insist on a GOOD modem when you purchase a
new system - one on our recommend list - if they won't or can't provide
one then consider buying from somewhere else.

Your
modem is the most important factor in your Internet connection - be serious
about what you choose. Stay away from these modems and computer systems
including these modems:

Make

Model Number

Description

Various

?

Lucent Technologies (LT) Winmodem -
although these type of modems have improved greatly in the past
several months with new firmware revisions (version 5.2 or greater)
and is likely one of the better winmodems, we still do not recommend
this style of modem.

3com / US Robotics

005683-0

"Sportster Winmodem" 56K Internal -
generally one of the better winmodems but not recommended.

Diamond

SupraMax

56K Internal - Both PCI and ISA versions
(HSP)

Zoom

2925

56K Internal PCI Winmodem

Hayes

08-03357

56K PCI Internal Winmodem

Boca

M56HI

"WinStorm" 56K Internal PCI Winmodem

Shark

?

"Leopard" 56K Internal Winmodem

Cardinal

2210

"Connecta" 33.6 Internal Winmodem

Cardinal

3250

"Connecta" 56K Internal Winmodem

Creative

D5630

"Modem Blaster" 56K Internal PCI Winmodem

Creative

D5635

"Modem Blaster" 56K Internal PCI Winmodem

Gateway

?

"Telepath" 56K Internal Winmodem (made
by US Robotics)

ANY modem labeled
or stating "Winmodem"

ANY modem labeled
or stating "HSP"

ANY modem labeled
or stating "HCF"

What if the modem that
I want to buy is not listed anywhere above?

Because
there are dozens if not hundreds of modems in production today, we have
noted only those that we have had GOOD experiences with and those that
we have had BAD experiences with. That leaves many modems that are not
mentioned in our listing. If you are interested in a modem not listed
above, our suggestion is to check with the modem manufacturer before you
purchase to make sure that it is a hardware based modem.